Easter Seals Disability Services

Easter Seals Online Network Privacy Policy

Notification of Change
The Information We Collect
Opting Out
Your California Privacy Rights
Correct/Update Your Profile
Aggregate Information
Cookies
Security of Your Information
Tell-A-Friend, Ecards and Personal Fundraising Pages
Links to Other Web Sites
Information from Children
Transmission of Health-Related Data

Welcome to the Easter Seals Online Network, the Web site of Easter Seals, Inc. (Easter Seals headquarters) and participating Easter Seals affiliates across the country.

Because Easter Seals values the privacy of constituents visiting the Easter Seals Online Network, users of the Easter Seals Online Network have the right to manage their own personal information.

You can contact Easter Seals for more information related to the privacy of the information you provide online:

Mail:  233 South Wacker Drive, Suite 2400, Chicago, IL 60606.
Phone:  312-726-6200
Online:  Click here to contact Easter Seals via email. Your request will be answered within 2-3 business days.

Notification of Change
Easter Seals reserves the right to change this policy at any time. Easter Seals privacy policy will be kept up-to-date and clearly posted on our Web site.

The Information We Collect
On many pages of the Easter Seals Online Network -- in particular when donating online, completing an action alert, registering for a special event, purchasing a product, or completing various feedback forms -- visitors are asked to list name, address, and other personal contact information. Information collected is specifically and knowingly provided by site visitors and may include name, email address, format preference (HTML vs. text), address, telephone number, interests and other similar information. Collecting this information helps Easter Seals to better provide site visitors with relevant and useful content.

Easter Seals has partnered with Convio, Inc. to power the Web content, email and transaction processing capabilities to serve our constituents and fulfill our mission on the Internet. Convio, Inc. is an Internet software and services company that provides online electronic Constituent Relationship Management (eCRM) solutions for nonprofit organizations and higher education institutions. Convio will not disclose your name or other personally identifiable information (such as your e-mail address or phone number) to any party other than Easter Seals.

Neither Easter Seals nor Convio store sensitive information such as credit card numbers. When an online transaction is completed through the Easter Seals Online Network, such as a charitable contribution, credit card information is used solely for the purpose of completing that specific transaction and is not retained in the Easter Seals or Convio database.

Easter Seals will not sell, share or exchange personal contact information collected from this Web site with other organizations. If a user has a previous relationship with Easter Seals through another channel (i.e., mail, phone), Easter Seals will occasionally rent or exchange those names and addresses with other organizations as a way of providing extra funds to help support services. If you do not want to participate in this program, please let us know.

Visitors to the Easter Seals Online Network are not required to share any personally identifiable information. Users who do not wish to share personal information when visiting the Easter Seals Online Network can still access the Network's Web pages and the valuable information provided.

Opting Out
Easter Seals provides site visitors with the opportunity to opt-out of receiving our online and offline communications.

If you would like to opt-out of receiving email communications please update your user profile. Email unsubscribe requests are processed immediately.

To discontinue the receipt of postal mail, please contact Easter Seals. Shortly, Easter Seals will be adding the capability to remove your name from our postal mailing list online. You'll need to register as user of the Easter Seals Online Network. Please note: there is a 8-12 week lapse period due to the fact that a subsequent mailing may already be in production. If you do receive another mailing, please disregard it.

Your California Privacy Rights
To review a special notice for California residents only per California Privacy Law (SB27): Exchanging, Renting, Reselling Personal Information, please visit the "Your California Privacy Rights" section. 

Correct/Update Your Profile
Easter Seals offers the option to change and modify personally identifiable information. Upon your request, Easter Seals will remove personally identifying information retained in organizational databases. If you are a registered user of this site, you can access your Easter Seals profile and update your contact information and user preferences by clicking here.

Easter Seals reserves the right to maintain information on users who have had their access to the Easter Seals Online Network blocked.

Aggregate Information
Demographic and profile data (i.e., age, gender, browser usage) is also collected via the Easter Seals Online Network. Easter Seals uses such data to improve marketing and promotional efforts, statistically analyze site usage, improve content and product offerings and to customize site content, layout, and services. Additionally, this data may be shared with third parties on an aggregated basis. Easter Seals does not share personally identifying information with third parties, except to a court or governmental agency if required by law and as stated above in the section titled "The Information We Collect."

Cookies
A cookie is a small text file a Web site places on a site visitor’s computer hard drive. Its purpose is to let the site know when a user visits and to perform certain functions such as saving passwords and personal preferences.
 
Cookies help evaluate visitors' use of a Web site, such as what viewers want to see and what they never read. This information allows Easter Seals to better focus online information and to concentrate on information people are using.

Your browser is probably set to accept cookies. If you would like to turn this feature off, you will need to change the settings of your Internet browser.

Security of Your Information
All credit card and personal profile information provided to Easter Seals or our Internet software partner, Convio, Inc., is transmitted using SSL (Secure Socket Layer) encryption using Verisign as a payment gateway. SSL is a proven coding system that allows a browser to automatically encrypt, or scramble, data before it is sent.

Easter Seals also protects account information by placing it on a secure portion of the Easter Seals Online Network that is only accessible by certain qualified employees of Easter Seals. Unfortunately, no data transmission over the Internet is 100% secure. Easter Seals strives to protect your information, however cannot ensure or warrant the security of such information.

Tell-A-Friend, Ecards and Personal Fundraising Pages
If you elect to use the referral service to inform a friend about a page on the Easter Seals Online Network, send an ecard, or raise funds for Easter Seals by soliciting friends and family, you will be asked for the friend's name and email address. Easter Seals will automatically send the friend a one-time email inviting them to visit the site. Easter Seals stores this information to send this one-time email only. In addition, the contact information will be maintained solely for the future convenience of the individual who provided the information -- to send subsequent ecards or fundraising reminders/updates.

Links to Other Web Sites
Easter Seals has links to other Web sites outside of the Easter Seals Online Network. Easter Seals is not responsible for the content of any linked Web site, or any link contained in a linked Web site, or any changes or updates to such Web sites. The inclusion of any link does not imply endorsement by Easter Seals of that Web site.

In addition, please be aware that Easter Seals is not responsible for the privacy practices of such other Web sites. Easter Seals encourages you to read the privacy statements of each and every Web site that requests personal information from you.

Information from Children
Easter Seals does not seek to collect personal information about children through the Easter Seals Online Network. If a child submits information through any part of the Network, and Easter Seals is aware that the user submitting the information is a child, the information is not used for any purpose, nor is it disclosed to third parties. Easter Seals will comply with all regulations set forward by the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). To learn more about COPPA, visit the Federal Trade Commission.

Transmission of Health-Related Data
Easter Seals understands the sensitivity of collecting and using health-related data. Personally identifiable health-related data collected on the Easter Seals Online Network will not be shared with entities other than Easter Seals, Inc., and Easter Seals affiliates. Any transfer of personally identifiable health-related data between Easter Seals organizations will take place in a secure environment with access allowed only to certain qualified employees of Easter Seals. Easter Seals will comply with all regulations set forward by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). To learn more about HIPAA, visit the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights.

Easter Seals Rio Grande Valley
Notice of Privacy Practices

Effective April 14, 2003

This notice describes how medical information about you may be used and disclosed and how you can get access to this information.  Please review it carefully.

Overview
Our facility uses health information about your for treatment, to obtain payment for treatment, for administrative purposes, and to evaluate the quality of care that you receive.  Your health information is contained in a medical record that is the physical property of our practice.

The law requires us to maintain the privacy of your protected health information (PHI) in accordance with this Notice of Privacy Practices (Notice), as long as this Notice remains in effect.  We are also required to provide you with a copy of this Notice, which contains our privacy practices, our legal duties, and your rights concerning your PHI.

From time to time, we may revise our privacy practices and the terms of our Notice at any time, as permitted or required by applicable law.  We reserve the to apply a change in our policies to previously received PHI.  We will promptly revise and make available our Notice whenever there is a material change to the uses or disclosure, your individual rights, our legal duties or other privacy practices stated in this Notice.  The revised Notice will be posted at our facility and on this website.

Our Privacy Practices

Use and Disclosure
Authorizations
Patient Access
Locating Responsible Parties
Disasters
Required by Law
Deceased Persons
Research
Military and National Security
Appointments

Your Individual Rights

Access and Copies
Disclosure Accounting
Additional Restrictions
Alternate Communications
Amendments to PHI
Copy of Notice of Privacy

Our Obligations

Complaints

Contact Us

Our Privacy Practices
Use and Disclosure.  We may use or disclose your PHI for treatment, payment, or health care operations.  For your convenience, we have provided the following examples of such potential uses or disclosures:

Treatment.  Your PHI may be used to provide you with medical treatment for service.  For example, information obtained by a health care provider, such as a physician, nurse, or other person providing health care services to you, will record information in your record that is related to your treatment.  This information is necessary for health care providers to determine what treatment you should receive.

Payment.  Your PHI may be used or disclosed in order to collect payment for the medical services provided to you.  For example a bill may be sent to you or a third-party payor, such as an insurance company or health plan.  The information on the bill may contain information that identifies you, your diagnosis, and treatment or supplies used in the course of treatment.

Health Care Operations. Your PHI may be used or disclosed as part of our internal health care operations.  Such health care operations may include, among other things, quality of care audits of our staff and affiliates, conducting training programs, accreditation, certification, licensing, or credentialing services.

Authorizations. We will not use or disclose your medical information for any reason except those described in this Notice, unless you provide us with a written authorization to do so.  We may request such an authorization to use to disclose your PHI for any purpose, but you are not required to give us such authorization as a condition of treatment.  Any written authorization from you may be revoked by you in writing at any time, but such revocation will not affect any prior authorized uses or disclosures.

Patient Access.  We will provide you with access to your PHI, as described below in the Individual Rights section of this Notice.  With your mission, or in some emergencies, we may disclose your PHI to your family members, friends, or other people to aid in your treatment or the collection of payment.  A disclosure of your PHI may also be made if we determine it is reasonably necessary or in your best interests for such purposes as allowing a person acting on your behalf to received filled prescriptions, medical supplies, 
X-rays, etc.

Locating Responsible Parties.  Your PHI will be disclosed in order to locate, identify or notify a family member, your personal representative, or other person responsible for your care.  If we determine in our reasonable professional judgment that you are capable of doing so, you will be given the opportunity to consent to or to prohibit or restrict the extent or recipients of such disclosure.  If we determine that you are unable to provide such consent, we will limit the PHI disclosed to the minimum necessary.

Disasters.  We may use or disclose your PHI to any public or private entity authorized by law or by its charter to assist in disaster relieve efforts.

Required by Law.  We may use or disclose your medical information when we are required to do so by law.  For example, your PHI may be released when required by privacy laws, work-related injuries or illness, public health laws, court or administrative orders, subpoenas, certain discovery requests, or other laws, regulations or legal processes.  Under certain circumstance, we may make limited disclosures of PHI directly to law enforcement officials or correctional institutions regarding an inmate, lawful detainne, suspect fugitive, material witness, missing person, or a victim or suspected victim of abuse, neglect, domestic violence or other crimes.  We may disclose the health or safety of others.  We may disclose your PHI when necessary to assist law enforcement officials to  capture a third party who has admitted to a crime against you or who has escaped from lawful custody.

Deceased Persons.  After your death, we may disclose your PHI to a coroner, medical examiner, funeral director, or organ procurement organization in limited circumstances.

Research.  Your PHI may also be used or disclosed for research purposes only in those limited circumstances not requiring your written authorization, such as those that have been approved by an institutional review board that has established procedures for ensuring the privacy of your PHI.

Military and National Security.  We may disclose to military authorities the medical information of Armed Forces personnel under certain circumstances.  When required by law, we may disclose your PHI for intelligence, counterintelligence, and other national security activities.

Appointments.  We may contact you to provide appointment reminders or information about treatment alternatives or other health-related benefits and services that may be of interest to you.

Your Individual Rights
Access and Copies.  In most cases, you have the right to review or to purchase copies of your PHI by requesting access or copies in writing to our Privacy Facility.  Please contact our Privacy Officer regarding our copying fees.

Disclosure Accounting.  You have the right to receive an accounting of the instances, if any, in which your PHI was disclosed for purposes other than those described in the following sections above:  Use and Disclosures, Patient Access, and Locating Responsible Parties.  For each 12-month period, you have the right to receive one free copy of an accounting certain details surrounding such disclosures that occurred after April 13, 2003.  If you request a disclosure accounting more than once in a 12-month, we will charge you a reasonable, cost-based fee for each additional request.  Please contact our Privacy Officer regarding these fees.

Additional Restrictions.  You have the right to request that we place additional restrictions on our use or disclosure of your PHI, but we are not required to honor such a request.  We will be bound by such restrictions only if we agree to do so in writing signed by our Privacy Facility.

Alternate Communications.  You have the right to request that we communicate with you about your PHI by alternative means or in alternative locations.  We will accommodate any reasonable request if it specifies in writing the alternative means or location, and provides a satisfactory explanation of how future payments will be handled.

Amendments to PHI.   You have the right to request that we amend your PHI.  Any such request must be in writing and contain a detailed explanation for the requested amendment.  Under certain circumstances, we may deny your request but will provide you a written explanation of the denial.  You have the right to send us a statement of disagreement to which we may prepare a rebuttal, a copy of which will be provided to you at no cost.  Please contact our Privacy Officer with any further questions about amending your medical record.

Copy of Notice of Privacy.  Should you obtain a copy of this Notice electronically, you may request a paper copy of this Notice.  Please contact our Privacy Officer and a copy will be made available to you at no cost.

Our Obligations
We are required to:  maintain the privacy of protected health information; provide you with this Notice of our legal duties and privacy practices with respect to your health information; abide by the terms of this Notice; notify you if we unable to agree to a requested restriction on how your information is used or disclosed; accommodate reasonable request you may make to communicate health information by alternative means or at alternative locations; and obtain your written authorization to use or disclose our health information for reasons other than those listed above and permitted under law.

Complaints
If you believe you have violated your privacy rights, you may complain to us to the Secretary of the U.S. Department.  You may file a complaint with us by notifying our Privacy Officer.  We support your right to protect the privacy of your medical information.  We will not retaliate in any way if you choose to file a complaint with us or with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Contacting Us
If you have any questions or complaints, please contact:   Easter Seals Rio Grande Valley's Privacy Officer at one of the following addresses:

PO Box 489
McAllen, TX  78505-0489

1217 Houston Ave.
McAllen, TX  78501

(956) 631-9171

rservantes@easterseals-rgv.org